I am one month into the sale of my ground floor flat in Bradford and the estate agent has just text me to warn that the purchasers are appointing a new law firm. The reason given is that the mortgage company will only work with solicitors on their approved list. Why would a big named mortgage company only deal with certain lawyers rather the firm that they want to choose for their conveyancing in Bradford ?
Lenders have always had an approved set of law firms that can act for them, but in recent years big names such as Santander, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for many years.
Lenders blame a rise in fraud as the reason for the pruning – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to maintain. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels. Some do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. The purchasers are unlikely to have any sway in the decision.
We were just about to exchange contracts for a ground floor flat in Bradford. We have hit a stumbling block. Our loan offer with Nottingham Building Society runs out on 3/11/2025 but the sellers are putting forward a completion date of 5/11/2025. Can one extend the loan expiry date?
The best person to address this issue is your conveyancer who should calculate whether they better off negotiating with the bank, vendor’s representatives, property agents or conceivably all three given what has happend in your transaction to date.
The Bradford conveyancing solicitors that I appointed last week on my house acquisition in Bradford have without warning closed. I chose them because I had to have a lawyer on the TSB conveyancing panel and my family Bradford lawyer was not. I issued them a cheque for £250 in advance. What should be my next steps?
Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then inform them straight away so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the TSB conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new lawyers should be in a position to assist.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a property I have offered on a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a straight forward, no chain conveyancing. Bradford is where the house is located. Can you offer any opinion?
Flying freeholds in Bradford are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Bradford you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds diligently. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Bradford may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.
Given that I am about to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds on a two bedroom apartment in Bradford I would like to talk to a solicitor about myconveyancing in advance of appointing the firm. Can this be arranged?
This is something that we encourage - we would be delighted to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you liaising with the conveyancer who will be doing your conveyancing in Bradford.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - every client is unique individual, not a file reference. The solicitors that we put you in touch with believe that the figure you are quoted for your conveyancing in Bradford should be the amount on the final invoice that you end up paying.
I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Bradford. Before diving in I require certainty as to the number of years remaining on the lease.
Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Bradford - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.
I invested in buying a ground floor flat in Bradford, conveyancing having been completed February 1995. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Similar properties in Bradford with over 90 years remaining are worth £170,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 charged once a year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2103
With only 78 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £7,600 and £8,800 plus costs.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.